stormymonday_2011 Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Former Cabinet Minister David Mellor has said he regrets losing his temper, after being recorded asking a taxi driver in an expletive-ridden tirade whether "you think that your experiences are anything compared to mine?" Mr Mellor, a QC and former Conservative MP, called the cab driver a "sweaty, stupid little s**t" during an argument about the route he wanted to travel on Friday following a visit to Buckingham Palace with his partner, who had just been awarded a CBE. The broadcaster, who had accompanied his partner, VisitEngland chairman Viscountess Penelope Cobham, to an Investiture ceremony with the Prince of Wales, was heard in a mobile phone recording given to The Sun telling the driver to "f*** off". The paper reported that Mr Mellor accused the driver of not taking the quickest route to their destination in east London during rush hour. Mr Mellor also said he would name him and discuss the incident on his LBC radio show, which he co-presents with former London Mayor Ken Livingstone on Saturday mornings. "You've been driving a cab for 10 years, I've been in the Cabinet, I'm an award-winning broadcaster, I'm a Queen's Counsel," the former MP was heard saying on the recording. "You think that your experiences are anything compared to mine?" He later says: "Of course you could apologise. I don’t suppose a guy like you does apologise, do you? "Because you think you’re a big s**t, having driven a cab for ten years. "Treat me like s**t, ruin my wife’s day. She’s been to the Palace and been awarded a major award. "You f*** up our day. Does that give you pleasure?" The tirade continues with Mr Mellor telling the taxi driver: "I don’t want to hear about you being honest, and if you think you’re going to be sarky with me, get a better education. "So if you’re not going to say you’re sorry, shut the f*** up. And you, cab number ****, listen to Ken and I tomorrow, you’re going to get a f***ing bucketful." The taxi driver is heard saying: "If you’ve had a bad experience I’ll apologise, but to be honest, I think...", before the former MP interrupts him by saying: "I don’t want to hear this, do you understand? Shut up!" Mr Mellor adds later: "You f***ing ruined her day. She’s been at Buckingham Palace, she’s seen Prince Charles, received a major award, and you, smart-arsed little git, have ruined her day. Are you proud of yourself?" Mr Mellor told the paper the driver, who is not named but is described as a 38-year-old from south east London, had provoked him. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/11252235/Ex-cabinet-minister-David-Mellor-regrets-tirade-against-sweaty-stupid-taxi-driver.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30195139 My nephew is a London cabby but sadly I have been able to establish that it was not him in front of the cab. Maybe Mellor should try Uber whose taxi drivers have taken to threatening their customers by text if they cancel or kidnapping them http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2840385/Woman-25-bombarded-vicious-messages-Uber-driver-canceling-ride-home-radiation-treatment.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2793167/uber-driver-terrorized-passenger-two-hour-hell-ride-los-angeles-company-did-refund-money.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Knimbies who say No Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Without knowing if his complaint had any merit, it seems a somewhat disproportionate response. Was this a better or worse day for his wife than the one where David was in the papers with his footie shirt and a model? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiveinHope Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Radio 4's PM programme interviewed random cabbies tonight and Eddie Mair said jokingly that Mellor seemed to have been a passenger with most cabbies, one interviewed gave him a lift just last Sunday. I think all the cabbies interviewed supportive of Mellor, although several said he could come across as arrogant, but they didn't seem overly fussed. One said the cabbie shouldn't have recorded the conversation and rightly pointed out that you don't know what was said before the recording started. Listen from 41.47 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormymonday_2011 Posted November 25, 2014 Author Share Posted November 25, 2014 Mellor might have had grounds for being upset but the way he dealt with it showed no class at all.In particular, it should be noted that Mellor himself had threatened to use his own radio show to humiliate the cabby so he can hardly complain when the bloke got his retaliation in first Anyway Kelvin Mackenzie clearly enjoyed Mellor's humiliation on the TV today Cabbies do often record what goes on in their cabs because so many are subject to assault or false claims of misbehaviour Anyway London Black Cabs charge by time as well as distance and the fare for 5 miles of £29 is very much in the TFL range of typical charges listed on their website, particularly if the traffic was heavy in the rush hour, so I dont think Mellor was being particularly ripped off http://www.tfl.gov.uk/modes/taxis-and-minicabs/taxi-fares If he wanted to pay price per mile he should have called a hire car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie_George Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Knimbies who say No Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Mellor might have had grounds for being upset but the way he dealt with it showed no class at all. It should be noted that Mellor himself had threatened to use his own radio show to humiliate the cabby so he can hardly complain when the bloke got his retaliation in first Anyway Kelvin Mackenzie clearly enjoyed it on the TV today BTW cabbies do often record what goes on in their cabs because so many are subject to assault or false claims of misbehaviour Yes, not exactly what you might expect from a QC. Partridge tactics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happy_renting Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 If the cabbie had any sense he would have kept his powder dry until and only if Mellor mentoned matters on his radio show. For all we know, the cabbie may well be a sh*t as described. Can't say Mellor comes out of it looking good though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Loo Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Mellor has a "punch me now" sort of arrogance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happy_renting Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Mellor has a "punch me now" sort of arrogance. Mellor has a "punch me now" sort of face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormymonday_2011 Posted November 25, 2014 Author Share Posted November 25, 2014 If the cabbie had any sense he would have kept his powder dry until and only if Mellor mentoned matters on his radio show. For all we know, the cabbie may well be a sh*t as described. Can't say Mellor comes out of it looking good though. Some Cabbies no doubt are complete bastards but I have to say my nephew is pretty discrete about his more famous fares even when I try to pump him for dirt on some of them. I think the point is that Mellor's simply oozes that sense of entitlement that is so prevalent amongst the political establishment both past and present. Sadly like Emily Thornberry, he clearly lacks the real class to bring it off in all circumstances. I mean the boorish language he used was just a bit too common if you ask me. For God's sake the man was taking his aristocratic wife,Penelope Lyttelton, to Wapping. One wonders if he decks his house with Chelsea flags.and drives Lady Cobham about in a white van Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecrashingisles Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 I'm absolutely disgusted by Mellor's language: "Listen to Ken and I..." Appalling! It's like nails on a blackboard! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Eagle Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 I've been in the Cabinet, I'm an award-winning broadcaster, I'm a Queen's Counsel "Because you think you’re a big s**t, having driven a cab for ten years." Oh the irony... some people have such a large ego they don't even realise how stupid they sound... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkins Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 There are plenty of men in their late 60s/early 70s who behave like this when they don't get everything their own way. A friend of mine who works in high street retail in an area with many retirees encounters them fairly regularly. Maybe it's something to do with how boys were raised in the 1950s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northerner Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 He is not a martyr. “In great affairs men show themselves as they wish to be seen; in small things they show themselves as they are.” Nicholas Chamfort Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happy_renting Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 He is not a martyr. “In great affairs men show themselves as they wish to be seen; in small things they show themselves as they are.” Nicholas Chamfort OK, he's an ocean-going martyr marlin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juvenal Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Is that a pork swordfish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19 year mortgage 8itch Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 OK, he's an ocean-going martyr marlin.Wearing one of those really bad Chelsea away kits from the 90s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Bear Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 Without knowing if his complaint had any merit, it seems a somewhat disproportionate response. Was this a better or worse day for his wife than the one where David was in the papers with his footie shirt and a model? I remember at the time some journo saying that it was all particularly (and unfairly) unsavoury and made people feel queasy, because Mellor looked like 'the fourth form sneak'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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